1. Field Of The Invention
This method is directed to marine seismic systems and, in one aspect, such systems with a streamer, streamers, and/or one or more seismic sources towed by one or more powered vehicles. Such vehicles may be manned or unmanned and tethered, or not, to a host vessel.
2. Description of Related Art
The prior art discloses a wide variety of marine seismic systems with one or more streamers and/or one or more seismic sources, some of which include a main or host vessel and other unmanned vessels, vehicles, or apparatuses such as floats, paravanes, or buoyant members which are connected to the host vessel by lines, cables or tethers. Considerable power is required for a host vessel to tow such existing seismic streamer systems and cables interconnecting sensing devices with a tow vehicle. A typical host vessel is able to tow a plurality of tow vessels and can carry a plurality of undeployed seismic streamers and associated apparatus.
With known cable tow systems, the location and spacing of system components is limited by the type, size, and length of cables used and by the characteristics of tow vehicles and other devices of the systems. Changing the configuration of an array of prior art components, e.g. streamers, can be a complex, time-consuming operation.
There has long been a need for an efficient and effective marine seismic system with system components that are easily positionable. There has long been a need for an efficient and effective marine seismic system with reduced host vessel power requirements. There has long been a need for such systems having sufficient flexibility and adjustability to efficiently and effectively locate sensors, streamers, sources or other components in desirable locations; in one aspect with resepct to a land based control system and in another aspect with respect to a host vessel. There has long been a need for simplified marine seismic systems with which component retrieval, replacement, and re-deployment are facilitated.